A2 roundup briefs, Nov. 27

COLORADO SPRINGS — It’s been 50 years since North American Aerospace Defense Command began “tracking” the travels of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

It all began with a typo. In 1955, Sears-Roebuck placed an ad in The Gazette in Colorado Springs telling kids to dial a number if they wanted to talk to Santa. The number was a digit off.

Instead, it rang the operations center of NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs.

When Col. Harry Shoup answered and heard a child looking for Santa on the other end, he responded, “I’ll check the radars,” according to NORAD’s official Santa tracking history.

And so, thousands of children worldwide have called in or watched online at http://www.noradsanta.org as NORAD tracked Santa’s progress each year.

Last year the Santa Tracking Operations Center answered nearly 55,000 phone calls on Christmas Eve. During the holiday season, nearly 32,000 e-mails came in from children and adults around the world, and the Web site got 912 million hits from 181 countries.

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VAIL — A winter storm could bring up to 20 inches of snow to Colorado’s mountains this weekend just as holiday travelers hit the road to return home.

Snow began falling in the high country Saturday afternoon and poor visibility and several accidents closed Interstate 70 in both directions at Vail Pass for about two hours.

Between 10 and 20 inches could fall in the central, southwestern mountains including Vail, Aspen and Telluride, the National Weather Service said.

Light snowfall was forecast for metro Denver and the Eastern Plains.

HIGHLANDS RANCH — A 17-year-old likely will face misdemeanor charges of careless driving resulting in death after allegedly losing control of his car while text messaging and hitting a cyclist.

Under Colorado law, he could face up to a year in prison.

The victim, Jim R. Price of Highlands Ranch, died Friday.

A semitrailer carrying crude oil rolled near Fort Lupton and led to highway closure for several hours Saturday night.

The truck rolled over on Colo. 52 and Weld County Road 19 Saturday evening. Colo. 52 was still closed late Saturday.

The driver did not suffer serious injuries and the oil did not appear to be leaking.